United States and Russia might join efforts in the
investigation into the Boston Marathon bombings if the suspects’ ties to
Russia are confirmed, the Kremlin’s spokesman said on Saturday.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that Russia
has not yet received an official confirmation of the identities of two
bombings suspects with reported family roots in Russia’s volatile North
Caucasus, but signaled that Russia is open for cooperation with the U.S.
in the case.

“As all the circumstances and details get cleared, I think, our
intelligence agencies will be in conctact” over the case, Peskov said in
an interview with Rossia 24 state TV channel on Saturday.

On Friday, President Obama thanked Putin for his condolences, and
praised the close cooperation that the United States has received from
Russia on counter-terrorism, including in the wake of the Boston attack
that killed at least three earlier this week. Earlier on Tuesday, Putin
offered Russia’s assistance in the investigation.

The only remaining suspect in the bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19,
was taken into custody late Friday after a massive manhunt which
followed a shootout with police on Thursday night in which his brother,
26-year-old Tamerlan, was fatally injured.